richardson.]     SALT,    PETROLEUM,    ETC.,    IN    TRANS-PEC  OS    TEXAS.       581 
to  confirm  the  suspicion  that  oil  in  paying  quantities  actually  exists 
here.     But  as  yd  this  hope  has  not  been  realized. 
In  Bulletin  No.  2  of  the  University  of  Texas  Mineral  Survey,  Doc- 
tor Phillips  calls  attention  to  the  presence  of  oil  and  asphalt  in  small 
quantities  near  Fort  Stockton.  Since  the  publication  of  that  bulletin 
a  well  1,200  feet  deep  has  been  put  down  in  search  of  oil  in  that 
vicinity,  and  though  a  little  petroleum  and  gas  and  considerable  sul- 
phur were  reported,  oil  in  paying  quantities  was  not  found.  The 
well  struck  highly  mineralized  artesian  water,  which  flows  about  25 
barrels  a  day.  The  geology  of  the  surrounding  area  has  not  yet  been 
studied. 
Another  unsuccessful  deep  well  was  sunk  in  search  of  oil  about  4 
miles  west  of  Carlsbad,  N.  Mex.,  in  1902.  A  log  was  not  kept,  but  the 
well  was  sunk  chiefly  through  limestone  to  a  depth  of  1,500  feet,  and 
only  a  little  gas  and  oil  were  reported. 
In  1855-1857  Capt.  John  Pope  put  down  two  wells  in  search  of  arte- 
sian water  about  10  miles  (Mist  of  the  mouth  of  Delaware  Creek.  The 
deepest  was  sunk  1,050  feet,  apparently  mostly  through  red  beds. 
No  hydrocarbons  were  reported,  and  the  undertaking  was  a  failure. 
In  the  region  with  which  this  paper  is  concerned  a  number  of  wells 
have  been  drilled  in  this  supposed  oil  belt.  The  deepest  of  these,  the 
Aden  well,  on  the  east  slope  of  the  Delaware  Mountains,  about  35 
miles  northeast  of  Vanhorn,  was  sunk  in  1902  in  search  of  water.  No 
signs  of  oil  were  reported  from  this  well,  which  was  put  down  DIG 
feet,  mostly  in  Permian  limestone. 
Another  deep  hole  is  the  artesian  well  at  Toyah,  832  feet  deep, 
which  is  said  to  have  gone  all  the  way  through  unconsolidated  mate- 
rials. The  water  contains  considerable  hydrogen  sulphide,  but  no 
hydrocarbons  were  reported. 
A  number  of  wells  have  been  drilled  in  the  unconsolidated  de- 
posits of  Toyah  basin,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Pecos,  where 
artesian  water  is  found  at  depths  between  100  and  300  feet.  The 
occasional  presence  of  traces  of  oil  in  this  water  is  reported.  In 
1901  a  well  was  drilled  6  miles  southeast  of  Pecos  to  a  depth  of  282 
feet  in  the  basin  deposits.  A  small  amount  of  gas  was  struck  at  155 
feet;  traces  of  oil  were  found  at  217  feet,  and  several  other  traces  of 
oil  were  encountered  between  240  and  282  feet. 
Petroleum  has  been  found  also  in  two  other  wells  in  the  Toyah 
basin,  the  Casey  and  Ross  wells,  respectively  12  and  15  miles  north- 
west of  Pecos.  The  quantity  is  so  small  that  the  oil  is  cased  off,  and 
the  wells  are  used  for  watering  stock.  Traces  of  oil  are  found  in  the 
Tinnin  well,  near  Cottonwood  Draw,  about  20  miles  northwest  of 
Toyah;  in  the  Burnt  Spring,  northwest  of  Toyah,  and  at  a  few  other 
